Early Childhood Education in Nigeria: Issues and Problems

The paper discusses the issues and problems of early childhood education in Nigeria. It establishes that the Federal Government of Nigeria in its National policy on Education has given official recognition to the development and provision of early childhood education in the country. This combined with a number of factors to give rise to an unprecedented expansion in the provision of child care and early childhood education institutions in the country. However, nearly all the early childhood education in the country is provided by private proprietors. It also identifies the inability of government among others to put to effect most of the measures it stated in the National Policy on Education aimed at ensuring that the policy objectives are achieved. It has also established that the provision of early childhood education will have positive influence on the educational development of children in later life. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013.v3n5p17